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DICK ROCHE has done the State and its voters a considerable public service by arguing that it may be necessary to hold another referendum on the Lisbon Treaty because of the emerging political consequences of June's decisive vote against it.

Mr Roche spoke on his own, not the Government's behalf, in rejecting the idea of legislating the treaty in whole or in part through the Oireachtas after a vote by the sovereign people. But he was right to underline the urgency and importance of what is at stake for Ireland's international position.